McDonagh retains his title after tight and tense battle with Cruise

JJ McDonagh retained his Irish super middleweight title after a highly entertaining 10 round battle with Darren Cruise.

The Westmeath man just about did enough and claimed victory by a single round in the K2 Leisure Centre in Sussex.

Cruise impressed in a fight that was a rematch of a 2012 Prizefighter clash, but won’t take solace in entertaining the crowd or performing against a fighter, who was making his first defence despite winning the title in 2012.

The pair shared a high work rate throughout with Cruise pipping the first stanza according to those ringside, before McDonagh, who worked the body well stole ahead by round 5.

The tight nature continued as the rounds progressed leaving it a hard to call contest, but the referee ruled in McDonagh’s favour.